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Once it was pristine rainforest. Now it has been described as an Amazonian Chernobyl. Millions of gallons of crude oil and toxic waste - the legacy of an oil extraction programme - has blighted 1,700 hectares of land and poisoned the rivers and streams in Sucumbios in the north-east corner of Ecuador. Two Amazonian frogs coated in oil rescued from an open pit left by Texaco/Chevron (left) and an open pit of crude oil and toxic waters (right) The region is home to five different indigenous tribes and its rich biodiversity includes many thousands of plant and animal species. Oil has been one of the South American country's most profitable exports since the 1960s but it has come at a terrible environmental price. Amazon Watch, the Environmental action group, claim that in excess of 17m tonnes of oil waste has been dumped in open... [read full story]
